Cartridge carrier and loader



Dec. 19, 1967 J. MEDINA 3,358,881

CARTRIDGE CARRIER AND LOADER Filed Dec. 6, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l lNVENTOR 3 JOSEPH MfD/NA ATTORNEY W/(l/AM A. KEMMEZ JA.

Dec. 19, 1967 -J. MEDINA CARTRIDGE CARRIER AND LOADER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Dec. 6, 1966 INVENTOR JOSEPH MED/NA ATTORNEY:

W/ll/AM A. KEMMH JR.

Dec. 19, 1967 J. MEDINA CARTRIDGE CARRIER AND LOADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Dec. 6, 196 6 Mil INVENTOR, JOSEPH MED/IVA Fl 6 6 ATTORNEKWIL'L/AM A. KEMMEL JR.

United States Patent 3,358,881 CARTRIDGE CARRIER AND LOADER JosephMedina, 914 Le Borgne Ave., La Puente, Calif. 91746 Filed Dec. 6, 1966,Ser. No. 607,114 17 Claims. (Cl. 221-227) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acartridge carrier and loader having a compartment for a stack ofcartridges with opposed front and rear openings at its top and biasingmeans for holding the stack of cartridges against the compartment top.An ejector means is mounted to be positioned in the compartment rearopening and thereby simultaneously separate the top cartridge from theremaining cartridges and facilitate its movement out of the compartmentfront opening.

In general, the present invention relates to a device for carryingcartridges and loading them into a weapon. More specifically, thepresent invention relates to a cartridge carrier and loader adapted tohold a large number of cartridges and to insert said cartridges singlyand axially in sequence directly into a weapon magazine by manualmanipulation. For example, it is particularly useful for reloadingrevolver cylinders. This patent application is a continuation-impart ofmy patent application Ser. No. 503,126 filed Oct. 23, 1965.

At present, users of rifles and hand guns, such as revolvers, commonlycarry additional cartridges for reloading such weapons in their originalcontainers or loosely in a bag or in their pockets. Such informalarrangements however have a number of disadvantages particularly whenthe weapon is being reloaded in the field under adverse environmentalconditions. For example, each cartridge must be individually handled bythe weapon user and inserted into the weapon magazine which is arelatively time consuming process and renders the cartridge liable tosoiling from unclean hands or from dirt getting into the cartridgecontainer. Consequently,

a variety of cartridge containers and dispensers have been developed toat least facilitate the access to the cartridges and to keep thecartridges clean. Examples of such devices are illustrated in the KirbyUnited States Patent No. 2,499,652 issued Mar. 7, 1950, and theSingleton United States Patent No. 2,789,727 issued Apr. 23, 1957.However, such prior art cartridge containers continued to require manualmanipulation of each cartridge by the weapon user to insert thecartridge into the magazine. Thus such prior art devices were incapableof inserting the cartridges directly into the weapon magazine. Also,such prior art devices were relatively difficult to load requiringconsiderable manipulation and effort.

Consequently, an object of the present invention is a cartridge carrierand loader adapted to insert cartridges directly into a weapon magazine.

Another object of the present invention is a cartridge carrier andloader adapted to hold a large number of cartridges and to insert saidcartridges singly and axially in sequence directly into a weaponmagazine.

Still another object of the present invention is a cartridge carrier andloader adapted to be loaded simply and to eject the cartridges freelyand directly into the weapon magazine. 1

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readilyapparent from the following description and drawings which illustrate apreferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In general, the present invention involves a cartridge Patented Dec. 19,1967 carrier and loader comprising a housing having front and rear wallsand at least one cartridge compartment adapted to hold at least onestack of cartridges. Such compartment has opposed openings in said frontand rear walls adjacent to its top. Adjacent to the bottom of suchcompartment are biasing means for holding said cartridges against thetop of the compartment. Mounted adjacent the compartment rear openingare ejector means which are adapted to be positioned in said compartmentrear opening and to simultaneously separate the top cartridge in thestack from the remaining cartridges and to facilitate its movement outof the compartment front opening along an axial path.

In order to insure understanding of the present invention, referencewill now be made to the appended drawings of various specificembodiments of the present invention. Such drawings should not beconstrued as limiting the invention which is properly set forth in theappended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a partially broken away perspective View of a specificembodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1, taken along the line 4-4of FIG. 1, showing the operation of the device of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 5 is a partially broken away perspective view of still anotherspecific embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 6 is a partially broken away rear view of FIG. 5.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cartridge carrier and loader 10comprises a housing 11 having a set of side adjoining cartridgecompartments 12 each adapted to hold a single stack of cartridges 13.The housing 11 comprises a first casing 14 having a rear wall 15, abottom wall 16 and side walls 17 and 18. Slidably and removably receivedin the first casing 14 is a second casing 19 having a front wall 20, atop wall 21 and side walls 22 and 23 and a set of spaced intermediatewalls 24 adapted to form the compartments 12. The side Walls 22 and 23and intermediate walls 24 have an upwardly inclined bottom edge tofacilitate the insertion of the second casing 19 in the first casing 14.Each compartment 12 has an opening 25 in the front wall 21) and anopposed first casing 14 have rearwardly extending opposed side slots 27adjoining their front edges which are adapted to receive opposed ribs 28On the side walls 22 and 23 of the second casing 19. Also, the firstcasing 14 has opposed recesses 29 adjoining the top edges of the sidewalls 17 and 18 which are adapted to receive ears 30 extending from theside walls 22 and 23 of the second casing 19 adjacent its top wall 21.In addition, the second casing 19 has a downwardly extending tab 31adjoining the bottom edge of the front wall 20 adapted to facilitate theremoval of the second casing 19 from the first casing 14. As shown, thehousing 11 has an arcuate shape which is adapted to hold a stack ofcartridges 13 where the individual cartridges have rims which extendbeyond the circumference of the cartridge wall so that they form acurved stack with the rim of each cartridge in front of the rim of thecartridge immediately below it.

Adjacent the bottom wall 16 of the compartment 12 are biasing means 40adapted to hold a stack of cartridges 13 against the top wall 21 of thecompartment 12. The biasing means 40 comprises a follower 41 Slidablymounted within the compartment 12, a compression spring 42 between thefollower 41 and the bottom wall 16 of the compartment 12 and aretraction means 43 adapted to independently position the follower 41adjacent the compartment bottom wall 16 and maintain the follower 41 insuch position. The follower 41 has a rounded upper rear corner to permitthe cartridge adjoining it to slide out easily when ejected. Theretraction means 43 includes a. flexible cord 44 preferably formed ofwire attached to the follower 41 with a knob 45 thereon adjacent to thefollower 41. Also, the retraction means 43 includes an aperture 46 inthe bottom wall 16 of the compartment 12 through which the cord 44extends and through which the knob 45 is adapted to pass. The aperture46 has an adjoining aperture slot 47 adapted to receive the cord 44 butretain the knob 45. The biasing means 40- also includes an upwardlyextending boss 48 mounted on the bottom wall 16 in the compartment 12adapted to receive the compressed compression spring 42 thereon andhaving an edge groove 49 adapted to receive the cord 44 and tofacilitate its movement into and out of the compartment 12.

Pivotally mounted adjacent the rear opening 26 of the compartment 12 isan ejector means 50 which is adapted to be manually inserted into therear opening 26 and to simultaneously separate the top cartridge 13afrom the stack and to propel it freely out of the compartment frontopening 25 along an axial path. The ejector means 50 comprises an arm 51pivotally mounted on the rear wall of a first casing 14 by a hook end 52which engages an anchor pin 53 joined to the rear Wall 15 by brackets54. Mounted on the free end 55 of the arm 51 is a lug 56 adapted to beinserted into the compartment rear opening 26. The lug 56 has a frontportion 57 adapted to contact solely the rear end of the top cartridge13a and a tapered lowered portion 58 adapted to depress the remainingcartridges 13- when the lug 56 is inserted into the compartment rearopening 26. The ejector means 50 also includes a forwardly extendingflexible bar 59 mounted on the free end 55 of the arm 51 and grooves 60formed in the top wall 21 in which the bar 59 is slidably received.Mounted on the forward end 61 of a bar 59 is a guide means 62 comprisinga cylindrical sleeve coaxial with the path of the ejected cartridge andpositioned in front of the front wall 20. 7

To utilize the cartridge carrier and loader 10, the biasing means 40 isinitially retracted by pulling on the cord 44 so that the follower 41 ispositioned adjacent the bottom walls 16 of the housing 10 and the knob45 after passing through the aperture 46 is seated in the slot 47. Thesecond casing 19 is then removed from the first casing 14 by pullingforwardly on the tab 31 so that the ribs 28 slide out of the slots 27and the ears 30 rotate in the recesses 29. Also, the bar 59 of theejector means 50 is lifted upwardly and the arm 51 is rotated to therear so that the second casing 19 may be separated from the first casing14. After separation the second casing 19 is inverted and the cartridges13 are stacked in sequence in the compartments 12 on the top wall 21.Initially, the front opening should be closed by the finger during theloading but after several cartridges have been inserted into thecompartment, the weight of the cartridges prevents the cartridgeadjoining the front opening 25 from slipping out. The second casing 19is then slidably mounted in the first casing 14 in the reverse sequencewherein the cars are seated in the recesses 19 and the ribs 28 areslipped into the slots 27. Next the knob 45 is released from the slot 47so that the biasing means holds the stack of cartridges against the topwall 21 of the compartment 12.

When it is desired to eject one or more cartridges, as shown in FIG. 4,the ejector means 50 is hooked onto the anchor pin 53 adjacent thecompartment 12 which is to be emptied and the bar 59 is inserted intothe groove 60 in the top 21 of the housing 10. The top cartridge 13a isthen ejected simply by pressing the finger against the free end 55 ofthe ejector means 50 so that the lug 56 is inserted into the rearopening 26 of the compartment 12. When the lug 56 enters the compartment12 its front portion 57 contracts the rear end of the cartridge 13a.Simultaneously, the tapered lower portion 58 of the lug 56 slidablyengages the rim of the cartridge 13 immediately below the top cartridge13a and by cam action depresses such cartridge and the cartridges belowit in the stack thereby separating such remainder of the stack from thetop cartridge 13a. Such combined action of the ejector means 50 botheffectively frees the top cartridge 13a from the compartment 12 and theremainder of the stack of cartridges and also propels it out of thefront compartment opening 25 along a path coaxial with the axis of thecartridge immediately before it is ejected. In addition, if for anyreason the ejected cartridge should deviate from such axial path, theforward cylindrical guide means 62 which is coaxial with such pathcompensates for such deviation by redirecting the cartridge along suchaxial path. After the cartridge 13a is ejected, the ejector means 50 isautomatically retracted from the compartment both by the force exertedagainst the tapered lower portion 58 by the remaining stack ofcartridges as well as by the spring action of the arm 51. Concurrentlywith the retraction of the ejector means 50, the biasing means 40 forcesthe stack of cartridges upwardly in the compartment so that the topcartridge is again held against the top wall of the compartment 12 inalignment with the front and rear openings 25 and 26. Thus, the deviceis immediately ready to eject the next cartridge and repeated operationof the device can easily be maintained.

Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3wherein the device comprises a housing 111 including a set of cartridgecompartments 112 having adjoining sides. The housing 111 has a frontwall 113, a rear wall 114, a top wall 115, a bottom wall 116 and sidewalls 117 and 118. The compartments 112 are formed by a set of spacedintermediate walls 119. However, in place of the first and secondcasings 14 and 19, illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rear wall 114 ofthe housing 111 has an upper removable portion 120 attached to the fixedrear wall 114 by hinge means 122. The free end 123 of the removable wallportion 120 has buttons 124 adapted to be removaby engaged with pockets125 in the side walls 117 and 118 so that the rear wall portion of 120is removably held in a closed position. The remaining portions of thedevice 110 are substantially the same as the device illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2 as is the operation of the device 110.

Still another specific embodiment of the present invention isillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 wherein a double stack 213 of cartridges isstored in each compartment. In addition, the ejector means is adapted toposition and eject alternately cartridges on each side of the doublestack. In FIGS. 5 and 6, the device 210 comprises a housing 211including a set of cartridge compartments 212 having adjoining sides.The housing 211 has a front wall 214, a rear wall 215, a top Wall 216, abottom wall 217 and side walls 218 and 219. The side walls 218 and 219taper inwardly towards the front to insure that the cartridges form theproper interlaced pattern. The compartments 212 are formed by a spacedintermediate wall 220 and each compartment 212 has an opening 221 in thefront wall 214 and an opposed opening 222 in the rear wall 215 adjacentthe top wall 216. Similar to FIG. 3, the rear wall 215 of the housing211 has an upper removable portion 223 attached to the fixed rear wall215 by hinge means 224. The free end 225 of the removable rear wallportion 223 is removably held in a closed position by latching means 226having a flexible dog 227 which engages the prong 228 on the free end225.

Adjacent the bottom wall 217 are biasing means 230 adapted to hold thedouble stack 213 of cartridges against the inner side 216a of the topWall 216. The biasing means 230 comprises a follower 231 slidablymounted within the compartment 212, a compression spring 233 between thefollower 231 and the bottom wall 217 and a retraction means 234 adaptedto independently position the follower 231 adjacent the bottom wall 217and maintain the follower 231 in such position. The follower 231 has arest 232 on its upper surface adapted to displace the first side of thestack 213 of cartridges with respect to the second side and interlacethem so that compression on one side of the stack causes the whole stackto move upwardly with equal force applied to both sides. The retractionmeans 234 includes a flexible cord 235 attached to the follower 231 witha knob 236 thereon adjacent to the follower 231. The cord 235 extendsthrough an aperture 237 in the bottom wall 217 adapted to pass the knob236. The aperture 237 has an adjoining slot 238 adapted to receive thecord 235 but retain the knob 236.

The ejector means 249 comprises an arm 241 slidably mounted on the upperportion 225 of the rear wall 215 by means of a block 242 having slots243 therein through which the arm 241 extends. Mounted on the free end244 of the arm 241 is a heel 245 adapted to facilitate the manualdepression of the arm 241. Mounted adjacent the free end 244 of the arm241 is a lug generally designated 246 extending into the compartmentrear opening 222. The lug 246 has sides 247 adapted to position the topcartridge for ejection and a bottom 248 adapted to depress the side ofeach remaining cartridge when the arm 241 is depressed. The ejectormeans 240 also includes a shoulder 249 formed in the rear opening 222, arecess 250 in the lug 246 adapted to receive the shoulder 249 and achannel 251 in the inner side of the top wall 216 of the compartment.The shoulder 249 and recess 25!) are adapted to alternately position thelug 246 on opposite sides of the compartment 212 and the channel 251 isadapted to position the cartridge for ejection. Mounted on the frontwall 214 are guide means 252 comprising a conical sleeve adapted to movethe ejected cartridge so that its coaxial path is substantially centeredwith respect to the device 210.

In the operation of the cartridge carrier and loader 210, when loading,the rest 232 produces a double stack having an interlaced pattern. Whenit is desired to eject one or more cartridges, the top cartridge isejected simply by pressing the finger or thumb down on the heel 245 ofthe arm 241 which depresses the lug 246. As the lug 246 moves down, itis moved to the compartment side opposite the side on which the topcartridge is located since it rides down the opposite side of theshoulder 249 because of the recess 250. Due to such movement of the lug246, the top cartridge is separated from the remaining cartridges.Consequently, by tilting the device 210 forward, the top cartridge isdirected out of the compartment along a path substantially coaxial withthe axis of the cartridge immediately before it is ejected. The guidemeans 252'aligns such path with the center of the device 210. Uponreleasing the arm 241 after ejection, the lug 246 is moved upward alongwith the remaining cartridges by the follower 231. When the channel 251is reached, lug 246 and the cartridge immediately below it which hasbecome the top cartridge are displaced to the center of the compartment212 by the curved surface of the channel 251, the force on the cartridgeserving to drive the lug past the center so that the lug 246 ispositioned toward to be pressed down on the opposite side and the topcartridge is positioned in the center for immediate ejection. Uponsubsequent depression of the arm 241, the cycle is repeated.

Many other specific embodiments of the present invention will be obviousto one skilled in the art in view of this disclosure. For example, therelative positions of the various parts of the device can be reversed orinverted if desired. Specifically, the ejected cartridge by appropriatechanges in the orientation of the parts of the device could be emittedout of the bottom to the rear rather than out of the top to the front.Similarly, with respect to the embodiments of the present inventionhaving only one set of side walls, e.g., device shown in FIG. 4, eitherthe front or rear wall may be removable for reloading of the device.Likewise, the top of the device may be tapered so that the cartridges inall of the chambers feed into a single top position and are ejected by asingle lug. Alternatively, the walls may all be fixed and the loadingaccomplished through the same openings used to eject the cartridges.Also the retraction means may be formed by slots in the front and rearwalls of each compartment and pins extending from the follower throughthe slots so that the follower may be depressed by pushing on the pins.

There are many features in the present invention which clearly show thesignificant advance the present invention represents over the prior art.Consequently only a few of the more outstanding features will be pointedout to illustrate the unexpected and unusual results attained by thepresent invention. One feature of the present invention is that afterthe device is loaded, cartridges are singly and axially emitted insequence and propelled freely along an axial path. Consequently, eachcartridge may be inserted into a weapon magazine without the necessityof handling the cartridge. Thereby, the possibility of soiling thecartridge by dirt on the hands is eliminated when it is desired toreload a weapon in the field. Still another feature of the presentinvention is the design of the ejector means so that the bullet beingejected is not only propelled out of the device but also simultaneouslyseparated from the remainder of the stack of cartridges. In this way,easy ejection of the bullet without scratching or marring the cartridgeis achieved even under conditions of rapid repeated operations. Alsosuch arrangement permits simple, quick reloading of the weapon by asimple manual manipulation. Still another feature of the presentinvention is an ejector means which can eject cartridges singly andaxially from a double stack of cartridges. Still another feature of thepresent invention is the ease of loading because the biasing means maybe locked into a retracted position while the cartridges are beinginserted into the compartment and then when the device is fully loaded,the biasing means may be released to make the device ready foroperation. In this connection, the biasing means can be independentlymanipulated from the exterior of the device by the dependent cordattached to the follower so that the possibility of getting dirt intothe container is reduced.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a large number ofcartridges and to insert said cartridges singly and axially in sequencedirectly into a weapon magazine by manual manipulation comprising:

(a) a housing having front and rear walls and at least one cartridgecompartment adapted to hold at least one stack of cartridges, saidcompartment having opposed openings in said front and rear wallsadjacent to its top;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom of said compartment for holdingsaid cartridges against the top of dsaid compartment in registry withsaid openings; an

(c) ejector means mounted adjacent to said compartment rear opening,said ejector means being adapted to be moved through said compartmentrear opening and to simultaneously separate the top cartridge in thestack from the remaining cartridges and to cause its movement out ofsaid front compartment opening along an axial path said biasing meansacting on said eject-or to urge same out of said rear opening.

2. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 1 wherein saidhousing comprises front, rear, top, bottom and side walls and at leastone spaced intermediate wall adapted to form a set of cartridgecompartments, at least the upper portion of said rear wall beingremovable.

3. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 2 wherein saidhousing comprises a first casing having a rear wall, a bottom wall andside walls and a second casing slidably and removably received in saidfirst casing, said second casing having a front wall, a top wall andside walls.

4. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 1 wherein saidbiasing means comprises a follower in said compartment, a compressionspring between said follower and the compartment bottom wall and aretraction means adapted to independently position said followeradjacent the compartment bottom wall and to maintain said follower insaid position.

5. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 4 wherein saidretraction means comprises a cord attached to said follower with a knobthereon adjacent to said follower and an aperture in the bottom wall ofsaid compartment through which said cord extends and through which saidknob is adapted to pass, said aperture having an adjoining slot adaptedto receive said cord but to retain said knob.

6. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a large number ofcartridges and to dispense said cartridges singly and axially insequence directly into a weapon magazine by manual manipulationcomprising:

(a) a housing having front and rear walls and at least one cartridgecompartment adapted to hold at least one stack of cartridges, saidcompartment having opposed openings in said front and rear wallsadjacent its top;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom of said compartment for holdingsaid cartridges against the top of said compartment in registry withsaid openings; and

(c) cartridge separating means mounted adjacent said compartment rearopening for movement between operating and non-operating position, saidseparating means being operable to release one cartridge at a time fromthe biasing means, said separating means being so constructed andarranged that said biasing means urges said separating means into itsnonoperating position.

7. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 6 wherein saidseparating means comprises an arm slidably mounted on said rear wall anda lug mounted adjacent a free end of said arm and extending into saidcompartment rear opening, said lug having sides adapted to position saidtop cartridge for ejection and a bottom adapted to depress the remainingcartridges when said arm is depressed.

8. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 7 wherein saidseparating means includes a shoulder formed in said rear opening, arecess in said lug adapted to receive said shoulder and a channel in theinner side of said housing top, said shoulder and recess being adaptedto alternately position said lug on opposite sides of said compartmentand said channel being adapted to position said top cartridge forejection.

9. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a large number ofcartridges and to insert said cartridges singly and axially in sequencedirectly into a weapon magazine by manual manipulation comprising:

(a) a housing having front and rear walls and at least one cartridgecompartment adapted to hold at least one stack of cartridges, saidcompartment having opposed openings in said front and rear wallsadjacent to its top;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom of said compartment for holdingsaid stack of cartridges against the top of said compartment; and

(c) ejector means mounted adjacent to said compartment rear opening,said ejector means being adapted to be positioned in said compartmentrear opening and to simultaneously separate the top cartridge from theremaining cartridges and to facilitate the movement of said topcartridge out of said front compartment opening along an axial path, andsaid ejector means comprising an arm pivotally mounted on said rear walland a lug mounted adjacent the free end of said arm and adapted to beinserted into said compartment rear opening, said lug having a frontportion adapted to contact the rear end of said top cartridge and atapered lower portion adapted to depress the remaining cartridges whensaid lug is inserted into said compartment rear opening.

10. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 9 wherein saidejector means includes a forwardly extending bar mounted on the free endof said arm and a groove formed in the top wall of said compartment inwhich said bar is slidably received, said bar having a guide meansmounted on its forward end and adapted to direct the ejected cartridgealong its axial path.

11. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a large number ofcartridges and to insert said cartridges singly and axially in sequencedirectly into a weapon magazine by manual manipulation comprising:

(a) a housing having front, rear, top, bottom and side walls and atleast one spaced intermediate wall adapted to form a set of cartridgecompartments, said compartments having opposed openings in said frontand rear walls adjacent to its top and at least the upper portion ofsaid rear wall being removable;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom of each of said compartments forholding said cartridges against the top of said compartments, saidbiasing means comprising (I) a follower in said compartment;

(11) a compression spring between said follower and the compartmentbottom wall;

(III) a retraction means adapted to independently position said followeradjacent the compartment bottom wall and to maintain said follower insaid position, said retraction means comprising a cord attached to saidfollower with a knob thereon adjacent to said follower and an aperturein the bottom wall of compartment through which said cord extends andthrough which said knob is adapted to pass, said aperture having anadjoining slot adapted to receive said cord but to retain said knob; and

(c) ejector means mounted adjacent to the rear opening of each of saidcompartments, said ejector means being adapted to be positioned in saidcompartment rear opening and to simultaneously separate the topcartridge from the remaining cartridges and to facilitate the movementof said top cartridge out of said front compartment opening along anaxial path, said biasing means acting on said ejector to urge the sameout of said rear opening.

12. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 11 wherein saidejector means comprises:

(a) an arm pivotally mounted on said rear wall;

(b) a lug mounted adjacent the free end of said arm and adapted to beinserted into said compartment rear opening, said lug having a frontportion adapted to contact the rear end of said top cartridge and atapered lower portion adapted to depress the remaining cartridges whensaid lug is inserted into said compartment rear opening;

(c) a forwardly extending bar mounted on the free end of said arm and agroove formed in the top wall of said compartment in which said bar isslidably received; and

(d) guide means mounted on the forward end of said bar and adapted todirect the ejected cartridge along its axial path.

13. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a 9, singly andaxially in sequence directly into a weapon magazine by manualmanipulation comprising:

(a) a housing having a-set of cartridge compartments having adjoiningsides, each adapted to hold a single stack of cartridges and havingopposed openings in its front and rear walls adjacent to its top, saidhousing including a first casing having a rear wall, a bottom wall, andside walls, and a second casing, slidably and removably received in saidfirst casing, said second casing having a front wall, a top wall, Sidewalls and a set of spaced intermediate walls adapted to form saidcompartments;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom wall to each of said compartmentsfor holding said stack of cartridges against the top wall of each ofsaid compartments, said biasing means comprising a follower within eachof said compartments, a compression spring between said follower and thecompartment bottom wall, and a retraction means adapted to independentlyposition said follower adjacent the compartment bottom wall and maintainsaid follower in said position; and

(c) ejector means pivotally mounted adjacent said compartment rearopening, said ejector means adapted to be manually inserted into saidcompartment rear opening, and to simultaneously separate the topcartridge in said stack from said stack and propel freely said topcartridge out of said front compartment opening along an axial path,said ejector means comprising an arm pivotally mounted on said rear walland a lug mounted adjacent the free end of said arm and adapted to beinserted into said compartment rear opening, said lug having a frontportion adapted to contact the rear end of said top cartridge and atapered lower portion adapted to depress the remaining cartridges whensaid lug is inserted into said compartment rear opening.

14. A cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 13 wherein (a)said retraction means comprises a cord attached to said follower with aknob thereon adjacent to said follower and an aperture in the bottomwall of said compartment through which said cord extends and throughwhich said knob is adapted to pass, said aperture having an adjoiningslot adapted to receive said cord but retain said knob and (b) saidejector means includes a forwardly extending bar mounted on the free endof said arm and a groove formed in the top wall of each of saidcompartments in which said bar is slidably received, said bar having aguide means mounted on its forward end adapted to direct the ejectedcartridge along its axial path.

15. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a large number ofcartridges and to insert said cartridges singly and axially in sequencedirectly into a weapon magazine by manual manipulation comprising:

(a) a housing having a set of cartridge compartments having adjoiningsides each adapted to hold a single stack of cartridges and havingopposed openings in its front and rear walls adjacent to its top, saidhousing comprising front, rear, top, bottom and side walls and a set ofspaced intermediate walls adapted to form said compartments, said rearwall having an upper removable portion;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom wall of each of said compartmentsfor holding said stack of cartridges against the top wall of each ofsaid compartments, said biasing means comprising a follower within eachof said compartments, a compression spring between said follower and thecompartment bottom wall and a retraction means adapted to independentlyposition said follower adjacent the compartment bottom wall and maintainsaid follower in said position;

(c) ejector means pivotally mounted adjacent said compartment rearopening, said ejector means being adapted to be manually inserted intosaid compartment rear opening, and to simultaneously separate the topcartridge in said stack from said stack and propel freely said topcartridge out of said front compartment opening along an axial path,said ejector means comprising an arm pivotally mounted on said rear walland a lug mounted on the free end of said arm and adapted to be insertedinto said compartment rear opening, said lug having a front portionadapted to contact the rear end of said top cartridge and a taperedlower portion adapted to depress the remaining cartridges when said lugis inserted into said compartment rear opening.

16. The cartridge carrier and loader as stated in claim 15 wherein (a)said retraction means comprises a cord attached to said follower with aknob thereon adjacent to said follower and an aperture in the bottomwall of said compartment through which said cord extends and throughwhich said knob is adapted to pass, said aperture having an adjoiningslot adapted to receive said cord :but retain said knob and (b) saidejector means including a forwardly extending bar mounted on the freeend of said arm and a groove formed in the top wall of said compartmentin which said bar is slidably received, said bar having guide meansmounted on its forward end adapted to direct the ejected cartridge alongits axial path.

17. A cartridge carrier and loader adapted to hold a large number ofcartridges and to insert said cartridges singly and axially in sequencedirectly into a weapon magazine by manual manipulation comprising:

(a) a housing having front, rear, top, bottom, and side walls and atleast one spaced intermediate wall adapted to form a set of cartridgecompartments, said compartments having opposed openings in said frontand rear walls adjacent its top and at least the upper portion of saidrear wall being removable;

(b) biasing means adjacent the bottom of each of said compartments forholding said cartridges against the top of said compartments, saidbiasing means comprising:

(I) a follower in said compartment;

(II) a compression spring between said follower and the compartmentbottom wall;

(III) a retraction means adapted to independently position said followeradjacent the compartment bottom wall and to maintain said follower insaid position, said retraction means comprising a cord attached to saidfollower with a knob thereon adjacent said follower and an aperture inthe bottom wall of compartment through which said cord extends andthrough which said knob is adapted to pass, said aperture having anadjoining slot adapted to receive said cord but to retain said knob; and

(c) ejector means mounted adjacent to the rear opening of each of saidcompartments, said ejector means being adapted to be positioned in saidcompartment rear opening and to simultaneously separate the topcartridge from the remaining cartridges and to facilitate the movementof said top cartridge out of said front compartment opening along anaxial path and said ejector means comprising:

(I) an arm pivotally mounted on said rear wall;

(II) a lug mounted adjacent the free end of said arm and adapted to beinserted into said compartment rear opening, said lug having a frontportion adapted to contact the rear end of said top cartridge and atapered lower portion adapted to depress the remaining cartridges whensaid lug is inserted into said compartment rear opemng;

(III) a forwardly extending bar mounted on the free end of said arm anda groove formed in the top wall of said compartment in which said bar isslidably received; and

1 1 (IV) guide means mounted on the forward end 2,511,845

of said bar and adapted to direct the ejected car- 2,824,666 7 tridgealong its axial path. 3,186,592

References Cited 5 I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,350,886 8/1920 Scholz221-232 1,804,618 5/1931 Howard 221-232X 12 6/ 1950 Gumbel- 221-2 68;X-2/ 1958 Hausladen 221-232 6/ 1965 Carski 221-287 X FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1930 Great Britain. 12/ 1952 Great Britain.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

1. A CARTRIDGE CARRIER AND LOADER ADAPTED TO HOLD A LARGE NUMBER OFCARTRIDGES AND TO INSERT AND CARTRIDGES SINGLY AND AXIALLY IN SEQUENCEDIRECTLY INTO A WEAPON MAGAZINE BY MANUAL MANIPULATION COMPRISING: (A) AHOUSING HAVING FROM AND REAR WALLS AND AT LEAST ONE CARTRIDGECOMPARTMENT ADAPTED TO HOLD AT LEAST ONE STACK OF CARTRIDGES, ANDCOMPARTMENT HAVING OPPOSED OPENINGS IN SAID FRONT AND REAR WALLSADJACENT TO ITS TOP; (B) BIASING MEANS ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF SAIDCOMPARTMENT FOR HOLDING SAID CARTRIDGES AGAINST THE TOP OF SAIDCOMPARTMENT IN REGISTRY WITH SAID OPENINGS; AND (C) EJECTOR MEANSMOUNTED ADJACENT TO SAID COMPARTMENT REAR OPENING, SAID EJECTOR MEANSBEING ADAPTED TO BE MOVED THROUGH SAID COMPARTMENT REAR OPENING AND TOSIMULTANEOUSLY SEPARATE THE TOP CARTRIDGE IN THE STACK FROM THEREMAINING CARTRIDGE AND TO CAUSE ITS MOVEMENT OUT OF SAID FRONTCOMPARTMENT OPENING ALONG AN AXIAL PATH SAID BIASING MEANS ACTING ONSAID EJECTOR TO URGE SAME OUT OF SAID REAR OPENING.